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Keyword-Driven Personas - Whiteboard Friday |
Keyword-Driven Personas - Whiteboard Friday Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:12 PM PDT Posted by RuthBurr As inbound marketing is gaining traction, marketers in all inbound disciplines are realizing the importance of taking on keywords with a more holistic approach. It's time to start building your keywords into the bones of your site, rather than adding them once your site is already completely mapped out. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Ruth Burr discusses how you can use your keywords to drive personas, and ultimately affect your site mapping process for the better. Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below! For your viewing pleasure, here's a still image of the whiteboard used in this week's video! Update: Ruth referred to some code that Mike King of iAquire put together that may help your site if integrated into your analtyics. Give it a look! Video Transcription
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The Difference Between Penguin and an Unnatural Links Penalty (and some info on Panda too) Posted: 18 Apr 2013 05:32 AM PDT Posted by Marie Haynes This post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc. Are you confused about the difference between Penguin and an Unnatural Links penalty? Not sure whether you should be disavowing your links? Wondering whether you should file for reconsideration? Well...you're not alone! I have spent a good amount of time answering questions and learning from others in the SEOmoz Q&A and I see a lot of site owners and even SEOs who are unsure about the answers to these questions. Recently, a YouMoz article (that was promoted to the main blog) was written in which the author showed an image of the unnatural links warning that his site received and then stated: "We straight away knew that we had been hit by Google's Panda 3.9.1 update!" Oh dear. An unnatural links warning is NOT indication that you have been affected by Panda! Now, this article, and the comments below it have some great information on unnatural links recovery, so I don't want to be too harsh on the author. My point in mentioning this though is that even SEOs who know a thing or two about Google penalties and algorithm changes can be confused on these matters. A confession - I messed up too.I am insanely obsessed with understanding Penguin, Unnatural Links Penalties and Panda. I really don't know why. But it all started because I made a mistake. I was part of an SEO forum discussion in which a site owner felt they had been affected by the Penguin algorithm. I told him to clean up his bad links and then file for reconsideration. A senior member of the forum rightfully corrected me and said that I was giving incorrect advice. And he was right! As I will discuss further on in this article, filing for reconsideration is not going to help a Penguin hit site. I gave some bad advice and I am grateful that I was corrected. What that correction did was make me realize that Penguin and Unnatural Links Penalties are confusing. A lot of SEOs, myself included at the time, had a lot to learn about these issues. I made a decision that day that I would learn everything I could about algorithm changes and Google penalties. A Brief Description of Penguin, Unnatural Links and PandaBefore we start answering questions, here is some fundamental information about Penguin, Unnatural Links Penalties and Panda: The Penguin AlgorithmOn April 24, 2012, Google announced "Another Step to Reward High Quality Sites", an algorithm change aimed at fighting against webspam. The algorithm change was first called "The Webspam Algorithm" but eventually began to go by the name of "Penguin". This algorithm severely affected sites that had widespread keyword stuffing and participation in link schemes. Matt Cutts, head of webspam at Google, eventually admitted on Twitter that links are "a primary area to monitor" when you have been affected by Penguin. What most SEOs believe is that one of the primary causes of Penguin is when sites create easily made links containing keywords as anchor text from low quality places such as article marketing sites, bookmarks and do-follow comments. Unnatural Links Penalties Most webmasters believe that if someone files a spam report against you, then this will open up your site for a manual review. Some have speculated that Google monitors some of the more competitive niches such as "payday loans", "car insurance", casino sites, etc. and manually checks for unnatural links. No one knows for sure. The Panda AlgorithmThe Panda Algorithm was created by Google in an attempt to cause low quality sites to be displayed much lower in the search results. When Panda first hit, it was an unnamed algorithm. Many named it the "Farmer update" as it seemed to be aimed at content farms that ranked well as a result of scraping content from other sites. Most SEOs believe that sites affected by Panda have issues with on page quality as opposed to the quality of their links as in Penguin and Unnatural Links penalties. Sites that have been affected by Panda often have significant amounts of duplicated content (either on their own site or more commonly, from other sites) and also thin content. Thin content is usually a page that consists of very few words. If a site contains a lot of duplicate and thin content then Google sees little reason to show this site prominently in its search results. An entire site can be severely demoted because of Panda even if only parts of the site have duplicate and thin content. Now let's cover some of the points where people are the most confused about these issues. What is the difference between Penguin and an Unnatural Links Penalty?Both of these issues have to do with unnatural links. In both cases, the use of keywords as anchor text can be a factor. However, the main difference between the two is that Penguin is an algorithmic issue while Unnatural Links penalties are manual. A manual penalty is one that is levied by a human being, one site at a time. For example, a competitor could file a spam report on you which could result in a Google Webspam employee looking at your site. The employee could look at your backlinks and see that you have been engaging in practices that are considered as link schemes. As such, they may decide to levy a manual penalty on your site. Penguin is not levied one site at a time. Google has created an algorithm which is designed to programmatically find sites that have been engaging in unnatural link building tactics. When Penguin updates, if your site has been flagged as a site that is engaging in webspam, then your site will be affected on the date of the update. No human being is directly involved in determining whether your site is affected. As a point of interest, I have heard some SEOs who have done testing and believe that Penguin can affect a site on any day and not just Penguin refresh days. So far, in sites that I have seen, it seems that Penguin can only affect a site on a Penguin refresh day. The reality is that at this point no one knows for certain whether or not a site can be affected by Penguin on a date other than a Penguin refresh date. Do Penguin, Unnatural Links and Panda affect the whole site or just part of the site?Penguin: Penguin usually affects a site on a page and keyword level. Let's say that you have a page called example.com/greenwidgets/ and you have been building links to this page all containing the anchor text, "green widgets". If Penguin affected you, then it would mean that this particular page would no longer rank well for "green widgets". Penguin generally does not affect an entire site. However, quite often when sites have been affected by Penguin, they have built many anchor texted links, possibly for many different keywords all to the homepage. This can mean that the homepage will not rank for a number of terms. Unnatural Links: A manual unnatural links penalty can affect the entire site, or just a page, or even just one keyword. Sometimes a site can be penalized and be totally removed from the Google index. Other times, the site can still be in the index but not be shown in the first 10 pages for any of its keywords. Or, sometimes the penalty will not be as severe and may only affect one or two keywords. Here is a quote from Matt Cutts regarding a site that was penalized on a keyword level: The site in this example would not be able to rank for the keywords that they had used as anchors for sites that embedded their widgets. Panda: Panda can affect an entire site, or sometimes one section such as a news blog on the site. Panda does not tend to affect just single pages of a website. If you have a site that has some good content, but a lot of thin and duplicate content, then the Panda filter can cause the entire site to have trouble ranking, not just the thin and duplicate pages. Should you file for reconsideration if you have been affected by Penguin, Unnatural Links or Panda?Penguin: No. A reconsideration request is only meant for sites that have a manual warning. If you have a manual warning then you will have a message in your WMT. (See the image next to the section above on Unnatural Links.) If you have been affected by Penguin, then, because this is an algorithmic issue, having a Google employee review the site will not help. Unnatural Links: Yes. If you have a manual warning in your WMT then once you have done the work required to clean up the site (see below) then you will need to file for reconsideration. Panda: No. See Penguin. Panda is also an algorithmic change and a reconsideration request will not help you recover. Should you be using the disavow tool if you have been affected by Penguin, Unnatural Links or Panda?On October 16, 2012, Google released the disavow tool which allowed webmasters to essentially have Google add an invisible "nofollow" to certain links that are pointing to their site. Since the release of this tool, there have been so many webmasters asking questions in Q&A as well as other SEO forums wondering if they should be disavowing their links. Many have become paranoid about their links and want to disavow everything that looks suspicious. I've seen people who wanted to disavow a great link because it was site-wide. I've seen others who wanted to disavow a pile of links even though they are already nofollowed links. There is a lot of confusion around the use of the disavow tool. This is probably why the disavow tool comes with this disclaimer: Penguin: Google vaguely suggests that the disavow tool could be useful for a Penguin hit site. In their blog post about the disavow tool, they say the following: "Q: Should I create a links file as a preventative measure even if I haven’t gotten a notification about unnatural links to my site? A: If your site was affected by the Penguin algorithm update and you believe it might be because you built spammy or low-quality links to your site, you may want to look at your site's backlinks and disavow links that are the result of link schemes that violate Google's guidelines." Most SEOs believe that if you have been affected by Penguin then you should use the disavow tool to discount the unnatural links to your site. At the time of writing this, Penguin has not refreshed since the disavow tool was released. (The tool was released October 16th and the last Penguin refresh was October 5th.) What this means is that we do not have any proof yet as to whether or not disavowing links will help a site to recover from Penguin. Hopefully it will, but there may be other factors that need to be addressed as well such as on page issues like keyword stuffing. Unnatural Links: Yes. This is what the disavow tool was made for. Google says, in regards to a manual unnatural links penalty, "If you’ve done as much as you can to remove the problematic links, and there are still some links you just can’t seem to get down, that’s a good time to visit our new Disavow links page." Panda: No. As Panda generally does not have anything to do with backlinks, disavowing links to your site is not likely to help. Do you need to manually remove links?Penguin: While removing links is probably a good idea, it is likely not necessary. Because Penguin is an algorithm, to recover you don't need to show a human being evidence that you have worked hard to remove links. Most SEOs who are experienced with Penguin issues believe that disavowing your problematic links will help and that physically removing the links is not necessary. With that being said, if the bad links are under your control and easy to remove, then it is a good idea to do so. Unnatural Links: When trying to recover from a manual unnatural links penalty, it is not enough to just disavow the bad links. Google wants to see evidence that you have tried to get as many of the unnatural links removed as possible. When you file for reconsideration, one of the first things that the webspam team member does is check a number of the links that they have flagged as unnatural and see how many of them you have gotten physically removed. For the unnatural links that you are unable to get removed because the webmaster didn't reply, or because they wanted a large sum of money or for whatever other reason, then you can disavow those links. Removing an unnatural links penalty from a site can take a lot of work. If you are struggling to remove a penalty from your site, or if you are an SEO who would like to get involved in doing penalty removal work, I have documented everything that I do in order to get penalties removed in my book (see bio section for link). Panda: No, it is not believed that any links need to be removed for sites affected by Panda. When will you recover?Penguin: Most SEOs believe that you will not be able to recover a Penguin hit site until Penguin refreshes again. Google announced at SMX West that in 2013 there would be a major Penguin update but did not say when this would happen. There are some people who believe that they have seen Penguin hit sites recover on a day other than a refresh day. There are ways to recover a Penguin hit site without waiting for a refresh. For example, if you had a "green widgets" page that had been affected by Penguin because you built anchor text using the phrase "green widgets", you could build a new page called "buying-green-widgets" and get new, good quality links to that page and possibly rank again for this term. The original page would not rank, but the new one could. The problem with this is that getting new good quality links is difficult. Google wants you to earn links and not make them yourself. I asked John Mueller, a Google employee about whether or not it was possible to recover a Penguin hit site outside of a Penguin refresh and here is what he said: "+Marie Haynes theoretically, in an artificial situation where there’s only one algorithm (which is, in practice, never the case), if a site is affected by a specific algorithm, then the data for that algorithm needs to be updated before it would see changes. In practice, while some elements might be very strong depending on what was done in the past, there are always a lot of factors involved, so significantly improving the site will result in noticeable changes over time, as we recrawl & reindex the site and it’s dependencies, as well as reprocess the associated signals. So yes, you’d need to wait for the algorithm to update if it were the only thing involved, but in practice it’s never the only thing involved so you’re not limited to waiting. Also keep in mind that for long-running processes (be it algorithm updates like this, or other higher-level elements in our algorithms), it’s never a good idea to limit yourself to small, incremental improvements; waiting to see if “it’s enough” can take a while, so I’d recommend working to take a very good look at the issues you’ve run across, and working to make very significant improvements that will be more than enough (which users will appreciate as well, so there’s that win too)." A full discussion on ways to recover from Penguin is outside of the scope of this article. There are some sites that can have a penalty revoked but not see any increase in rankings at all. This generally happens when sites have no good links to prop the site up. If your site's backlink profile consisted of 99% self made links and you have removed or disavowed almost all of those links then you will need to get good, quality links to your site in order to rank again. Gone are the days of being able to rank well on poor quality links. Some sites can still appear to be penalized after their manual penalty is lifted if they are also under the effects of Penguin. In most cases, it is believed that the work that is done to recover from an unnatural links penalty will also get you out of Penguin trouble. However, you'll need to see a Penguin refresh in order to start ranking well again. Panda: Again, a full discussion on Panda recovery is outside of the scope of this article. Once you have done what is necessary to fix Panda issues such as duplication and thin content, then many sites will recover with the next Panda refresh. However, I have seen some sites that have taken several Panda refreshes in order to recover. As of March, 2013, Matt Cutts stated that Panda will not be doing large regular refreshes as we have been used to but instead it will now be regularly rolled into the regular algorithm. I expect that this means that Panda hit sites can recover much sooner now once the work is done. ConclusionThe purpose of this article was to answer some of the regularly asked questions when it comes to differences between Penguin, Unnatural Links and Panda issues. I don't claim to have all of the answers though. I hope this article generates some good discussion and questions! Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. 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"I'm only going to tell you this once..."
There's a lot to be said for conditioning your audience to listen carefully. If they know that valuable information is only going to come at them once, they'll be more alert for it.
Alas, as the nois-o-sphere gets noisier still, this approach is hard to justify.
Repetition increases the chance that you get heard.
Repetition also increases (for a while) the authority and believability of what you have to say. Listeners go from awareness of the message to understanding to trust. Yes, the step after that is annoyance, which is the risk the marketer always faces.
Delivering your message in different ways, over time, not only increases retention and impact, but it gives you the chance to describe what you're doing from several angles.
In many ways, the mantra of permission conflicts with the mechanics of frequency. If people are loaning you their attention and you're delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages, your need for frequency goes way down.
If you're using frequency as a tactic to make up for the fact that you're being ignored, you can certainly do better.
For the rest of us though, saying it twice may in fact be twice as good as saying it once.
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Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis |
Merkel Needs Opposition Party Votes to Pass Cyprus Bailout Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:08 PM PDT Germany approved the Cyprus bailout on Thursday as expected. However, Merkel required votes from the SPD and Green Party, to do so. One might not understand the implications when reading the Wall Street Journal report Germany Approves Cyprus Bailout. Germany's parliament on Thursday voted in favor of aid for troubled Cyprus by a large majority, giving Chancellor Angela Merkel's euro-crisis policies broad backing in the face of opposition criticism ahead of fall elections. What vs. How Merkel may have gotten "what" she wanted. I rather doubt she got it "how" she wanted. Reader Bernd from Germany explains ... "The falling apart of CDU/ CSU and FDP coalition is beginning to show in all seriousness now. If Bundestag needs to vote one more time before the federal elections (i.e. on Slovenia, Spain, France), the Government might not make it." Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Switzerland to Hold Referendum Banning its Central Bank from Selling Gold Reserves Posted: 18 Apr 2013 02:09 PM PDT In Swiss law, private citizens can put forth any initiative that can gather 100,000 signatures. A campaign by the Swiss People's Party to "Save our Swiss Gold" gathered 106,052 signatures so a vote will be coming up. Switzerland is to hold a referendum on a popular measure that would ban the central bank from selling its gold reserves and force it to keep at least 20 per cent of its assets in the metal.The Swiss National Bank is of course against the idea and will provide a response in "due course". I can translate their response in advance: "We reserve the right to trash the Swiss Franc at will, if and when we want to." Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Spain's Community Debt Tops €42 Billion as Unpaid Bills Mount; Madrid Worst Offender Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:18 AM PDT If you don't have the money, and cannot borrow the money, and cannot print the money, what can you do? The easy to understand answer is "you do not pay the bills" at least on time. This has been happening all over Spain, but particularly Madrid. Via Mish-modified Google translate from Libre Mercado, please consider Hidden Debt Soars Thanks to Mayor Gallardón of Madrid. Note: Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón is a Spanish politician and former mayor of Madrid. Local authorities accumulated a total debt of €41.9642 billion euros at the end of last year, €6.545 billion more than in 2011, representing an increase of 18.4% yoy, according to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance. But the most striking is, once again, that of Madrid. Madrid owes a total of €7.4296 billion in 2012, the most municipal debt Spain. This amount is equivalent to almost 18% of total debt of local authorities, 21% of all municipal debt, nearly half (46.5%) of the debt accumulated provincial capitals, and 63.5% of the debt of the big cities. In fact, Madrid's debt is six times that of Barcelona (€1.780 billion) and nearly eight of Valencia (€975.7 million euros). What is most relevant, however, is that Madrid's debt soared by €1.082 billion in 2012 alone, representing an increase of 17% yoy. This is the largest increase registered by the council since 2006, when it grew by €1.700 billion. The reason lies in the payment of overdue invoices from suppliers. Alberto Ruiz Gallardón left a legacy to new mayor Ana Botella. Gallardón was the mayor who accumulated the largest debt to suppliers throughout Spain. Close to €1 billion extra debt was the culmination of financial management of Gallardón, following years of waste and the red in front of City Hall. When Gallardón came into office in 2003, debt amounted to €1.455 billion euros, but when he left office in 2011, debt grew to €6.348, nearly four times more. End Translation Not to worry, the ECB, Brussels, and Prime Minister Rajoy have everything under control. If you have a hard time accepting that, please take another blue pill. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Posted: 18 Apr 2013 02:18 AM PDT Here's a seemingly simple question for you: "Is the Fed Printing Money?" I suspect most of you will reply an emphatic yes, but some of you will say no. Before I give you my take, please ponder a similar question: "Is inflation or deflation coming?" I posed the inflation question to the audience in my presentation at the Wine Country Conference. My answer was "It depends". When I asked the audience "On what does it depend?", one person answered that it depended on what the Fed did. That answer is incorrect. Whether the state of affairs is inflation or deflation has precisely the same answer as the question "Is the Fed Printing Money?": It all depends on the definition. I started thinking more about definitions while reading the Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook for First Quarter 2013 by Lacy H. Hunt and Van R. Hoisington. "The Federal Reserve is printing money". No statement could be less truthful. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is not, and has not been, "printing money" as defined as an acceleration in M2 or money supply. Just check the facts. For the first quarter of 2013 the Fed purchased $277.5 billion in securities (net) as their security portfolio expanded from $2.660 trillion to $2.937 trillion. A review of post-war economic history would lead to a logical assumption that the money supply (M2) would respond upward to this massive infusion of reserves into the banking system. The reality is just the opposite. The last week of December, 2012 showed M2 at $10.505 trillion, but at the end of March, 2013 it totaled only $10.450 trillion which was an unexpected decline of $55 billion. Printing money? No.My Opinion Personally, I think the Fed is printing. Indeed Bernanke is on record stating that he is printing. For an extremely humorous look at the question of printing as captured on the Daily Show, please consider Caught in a Massive Lie: Daily Show Comments on Bernanke's Lies Regarding "Printing Money" The pertinent point is not whether or not the "Fed is Printing" but rather the consequences of alleged printing and the effect that is having on the credit markets and the Fed's ability to stimulate loans. Rather than debate the meaning of "printing" let's look at the facts Lacy Hunt points out.
By Lacy's definition, the Fed is "not printing". By mine, the Fed is. Bernanke says one thing on one occasion and humorously denies it the next. Can all of us be correct? Yes, if Bernanke gets to change his definition mid-stream. Neither Lacy nor I have to. Note that the unemployment rate is allegedly 7.6%. By a more reasonable measure, the unemployment rate would be over 10%. Of course that starts a debate as to the definition of unemployment. Similarly, I contend this environment is extremely deflationary. Others mock the deflation assertion pointing out the massive increase in base money supply. They also have to ignore everything else under the sun generally typically equated with deflation. Does the precise definition of printing or inflation really matter? Only in the context of a debate. One cannot have a debate without agreeing on definitions. What's really important is not any definition per se, but rather an understanding of credit, the expansion of credit, and the Fed's futile attempt to stimulate both credit and hiring. On that score, I am pretty much on the same page as Hunt and not on the same page as inflationists and hyperinflationists who have expected a massive outbreak of price inflation for the last eight years. Someday the inflationists may be correct, but it sure does not look like that day will be any time soon. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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Damn Cool Pics |
Orchestra Hidden Camera Prank [Video] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:03 PM PDT ![]() |
DeadSpace Necromorph Chest Tattoo Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:36 AM PDT |
Oona Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s Granddaughter Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:28 AM PDT |
Amateur Photoshop Fails and Wins Posted: 18 Apr 2013 10:04 AM PDT |
Google Gambles on Glass [Infographic] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 08:52 AM PDT Google Glass creates an augmented reality in which information and some cellphone functions are accessible by a slight head movement or tap of a finger to the temple. Sounds neat. However, since Glass will be tethered to WiFi or your cellphone's data plan (it'll work with Android and iOS devices), if your data connection bogs down, Glass becomes useless. Click on Image to Enlarge. ![]() Source: Great Business Schools |
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